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Friday, August 28, 2015

CX Journey™ Musings: Busy Work vs. Real Work

Think about the things that you're doing to transform your organization and your customer experience. Are you doing busy work? Or are you doing real work?

Today's post is inspired by this quote from Thomas Edison:Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is
production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be
forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well
as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.

Wow. Doesn't that just describe what's required to make some real improvements when it comes to customer experience transformation!

Dictionary.com defines busy work as work assigned for the sake of looking or keeping busy. YourDictionary.com defines it as work or activity performed with the intention or result of occupying time and not necessarily to accomplish something productive.

As customer experience professionals, we have no shortage of work. But are we spending time on things that matter? Or are we spinning our wheels, doing tactical things, and looking like we're making improvements - when, in reality, we're applying bandaids and simple fixes rather than making/doing meaningful overall process improvements and customer experience redesign work.

You might be doing busy work if you...

were moved into a CX role with no real, clear direction or support

were put into said CX role because "everyone does it" or "we know we need this"

think tactics only, not strategy

are not focused on customer outcomes

don't make improvements based on what's most important to your customers

don't listen to customers

make decisions and improvements based on what you've been told is best for the company

don't have executive commitment and support

haven't assembled a cross-functional team to drive initiatives forward

are working in your silo without thinking about the holistic experience

I hate to say this, but I will: (unless you're working on building your business case to get executive commitment for your customer experience transformation) if you are only trying to fix things in your corner of the world, you're doing CX busy work. Seeming to do is not doing. The customer experience goes well beyond what happens in your department, so while you're fixing the experience for the customer in one step or area, he's having a completely different, disjointed experience with another. While it may feel like you're doing something, making progress, and making an impact, you're not. It's not enough. The entire organization must be in on it, starting with executive commitment and that shift to a customer-centric and customer-focused culture.

How do you ensure that you're doing the right work and that you're set up for success? Take a look at The 7 Deadly Sins of Customer Experience post I wrote earlier this year. Make sure that you're not committing any of them.

6 comments:

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Hi Annette,I use a similar method to what James suggests. It doesn't make me smart or super-human but it does allow me to focus on one thing at a time and prioritise the right things. I'm also rubbish at doing more than one thing at once ;)

“Real work is what advances your business or your job”. It uses your skills to the full and often takes you out of the comfort zone. It is challenging by nature, and thus meets with some resistance in your mind.